FAI Cup 2018

[pineapple stu]

Not really.

People directly involved in the Cup draw shouldn't be making the Cup draw.

it's a very minor issue, but it shows that the FAI are more concerned with a bit of celebrity than doing things properly.

[osarusan]

Rigged an away tie with Drogheda, the crafty b@stard.

[sbgawa]

Not really.

People directly involved in the Cup draw shouldn't be making the Cup draw.

it's a very minor issue, but it shows that the FAI are more concerned with a bit of celebrity than doing things properly.

To be fair who could they get to do the draw that wouldn't have an interest in the outcome that has some involvement in Irish football?
If it was Brian Kerr id be saying biased for Pats if it was Colin Healy I'd be saying bias for Cork, if it was a random LOI referee I'd be saying Anti Rovers bias :) and just because I know I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me

[pineapple stu]

Martin O'Neill did it before. Fran Gavin. One of the RTE pundits. There's lots of options.

Like, in the list of things wrong with the league, it's down around the level of grounds selling Fanta instead of Club. But still. Imagine Gareth Southgate doing the World Cup draw. It wouldn't happen. And he wouldn't really be able to take advantage either.

[sidewayspasser]

To be fair who could they get to do the draw that wouldn't have any interest in the outcome that has some involvement in Irish football?
John Delaney.

[RathfarnhamHoop]

Martin O'Neill did it before. Fran Gavin. One of the RTE pundits. There's lots of options.

Like, in the list of things wrong with the league, it's down around the level of grounds selling Fanta instead of Club. But still. Imagine Gareth Southgate doing the World Cup draw. It wouldn't happen. And he wouldn't really be able to take advantage either.

Or Falcao doing the Europa League draw while playing for Atletico when they were in it, that would never happen... Oh wait

[Asterix]

Martin O'Neill did it before. Fran Gavin. One of the RTE pundits. There's lots of options.

Like, in the list of things wrong with the league, it's down around the level of grounds selling Fanta instead of Club. But still. Imagine Gareth Southgate doing the World Cup draw. It wouldn't happen. And he wouldn't really be able to take advantage either.

Duff doing this draw would be like the england under 15s manager doing the world cup draw not Southgate.

[nigel-harps1954]

Any one got info on Cockhill Celtic?

Can be up and down. Watched their league decider with Letterkenny Rovers couple of weeks back. They had a storming lead at the top of the Ulster Senior League around March but started throwing it away slowly. Letterkenny caught up and forced a league playoff, but Cockhill won it pretty easy.

They've some good pedigree there, Gavin Cullen or Lee McCarron will be in goal, both have League of Ireland experience. Laurence Toland in midfield is a player that should have been playing LOI this past ten years but never made the step up, Malachy McDermott in there as well is another who could have made the step up. Peter Doherty at centre back was approached by Ollie Horgan before this season and didn't want to make the commitment to LOI football and they have others in there who could have a crack at senior football if they wanted too.

They'll give Limerick a game, that's for sure. If they keep it at Charlie O'Donnell grounds, rather than Maginn Park, it'll give them a little more advantage too. Limerick will hate the tiny little dressing rooms there. Should make for an interesting game, and certainly a potential upset if Limerick aren't at their game.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Fixtures finalised: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2018/0731/982270-cork-city-kick-off-fai-cup-defence-with-afternoon-clash/

Maynooth will be playing at the college astroturf apparently.

[Philosophizer]

Fixtures finalised: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2018/0731/982270-cork-city-kick-off-fai-cup-defence-with-afternoon-clash/

Maynooth will be playing at the college astroturf apparently.

That's crazy. Hope it's a mistake. Maynooth Uni have a lovely grass pitch right next to the astro.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Also an awkward match time for Limerick. Cant imagine they can afford to stay over the night before.

[pineapple stu]

Conclusion from the first half is that the Premier is a lot better than the First, but not a man better

[Sidefx]

:D:cool:

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Cup specialists

[SeanDrog]

A good night :)

[patrickccfc]

Stephen Bradley football genius 🎵

[Dalymountrower]

Cup Specialists wait another year.
Looking forward to our cup final against them next Friday.

[osarusan]

Friday results:

Bray 1-2 Harps (latest score, 98th minute goal for Harps)
Drogheda 1-0 Rovers
Dundalk 3-0 Cobh
Inchicore 0-5 St. Pats
Shels 4-0 Athlone
UCD 2-0 Pike
Wexford 0-7 Bohs

[ToberonaTornado]

Dundalk pished about for the 1st half and could hardly string 3 passes together.Coughed up possession easily also during the first 45.
2nd half - bit more like Dundalk,got their passing together as Cobh ran out of juice and though not brilliant from Dundalk it was much improved.

Shams :D

[sbgawa]

At times like this the only consolation is seeing how much it means to other clubs. Nice to spread the happy was. I'm off to the pub. Next year is only 9 matches away ....:)

[osarusan]

Into the 12th minute of stoppage time in Bray? Or did somebody just forget to turn off the clock at full time?


EDIT: Haha, just extra time, forgot about that in cup games!

[sidewayspasser]

Into the 12th minute of stoppage time in Bray? Or did somebody just forget to turn off the clock at full time?
Extra time (no replays in this round)

[Kingswood Rover]

well thats that till next March, Having the 2nd best attendances this season now also in doubt, i am off to my Cave till next season.......zzzzzzzzz,

[osarusan]

Extra time (no replays in this round)

Yeah, just copped that!

I was looking at the updates for a horrible injury or something.

[White Horse]

At times like this the only consolation is seeing how much it means to other clubs. Nice to spread the happy was. I'm off to the pub. Next year is only 9 matches away ....:)

That was your cup final tonight.

[sbgawa]

Nah after this long it's just another interim setback. A few pints of Guinness will help

[brendy_éire]

well thats that till next March, Having the 2nd best attendances this season now also in doubt, i am off to my Cave till next season.......zzzzzzzzz,

Erm, Shams are fourth in the league, one point behind third, with a game in hand. Plenty to play for...?
Also, who's this 15 year old you brought on? Was Bradley not taking it seriously, or is the lad just really good?

Nice win for Harps. Missed the signing, but an Australian-born, Maltese former international got the third. Random one.

[sbgawa]

Chuffed for harps .
're the 15 year old he is a superb talent , on the pitch on merit. Plays for duffers under 15s (he turned 15 recently) scoring goals for fun.
Happy to see harps win on bray. All this BS about the great new start in bray is a load of nonsense. The club has been kept alive just so joeys can keep sending 15 year olds over to UK academy's on buttons. They don't even have an embarrassment threshold about it,, they were tweeting congratulations to kids in academy's in the UK today as if it was something to be proud of.

[nigel-harps1954]

Nice win for Harps. Missed the signing, but an Australian-born, Maltese former international got the third. Random one.

Signed at the start of July. He's a cracking find. Good goal too. Has the same agent as one John Cofie.

Pleasantly surprised by how decent Harps were tonight at times. The gulf between Premier and First Division is huge, so to come away with a solid win was great to see.

A cup run would be a lovely boost to the club, and if we can get a good home draw in the next round that'd be great.

[El-Pietro]

Chuffed for harps .
're the 15 year old he is a superb talent , on the pitch on merit. Plays for duffers under 15s (he turned 15 recently) scoring goals for fun.
Happy to see harps win on bray. All this BS about the great new start in bray is a load of nonsense. The club has been kept alive just so joeys can keep sending 15 year olds over to UK academy's on buttons. They don't even have an embarrassment threshold about it,, they were tweeting congratulations to kids in academy's in the UK today as if it was something to be proud of.
Didn't Rovers just agree to sell a 16 year old themselves? I don't think your club has the moral high ground on this issue.

[osarusan]

I thought there was a rule that nobody under 16 could play in a senior game.

[Ezeikial]

Happy to see harps win on bray. All this BS about the great new start in bray is a load of nonsense. The club has been kept alive just so joeys can keep sending 15 year olds over to UK academy's on buttons. They don't even have an embarrassment threshold about it,, they were tweeting congratulations to kids in academy's in the UK today as if it was something to be proud of.

Sending kids to the UK on buttons = bad for kids

Sending kids to the UK on decent transfers fees = great for kids

[sbgawa]

Number 1 ...no deal done.
Number 2.. because he is on professional contract with rovers he can only be signed as a pro by EPL teams on a proper professional contract.
Not the 150 a week and thrown back that joeys get for their kids. Honestly EL P u have no idea of the damage being done by joeys, Kevin's etc to numourous young kids .

[Ezeikial]

I can't recall being so pi$$ed off after a 3-0 win.

[colonelwest]

Slavetrade Rovers has a nice ring to it eh? :D

[sbgawa]

Sending kids to the UK on buttons = bad for kids

Sending kids to the UK on decent transfers fees = great for kids

Wouldn't expect anything better from you. Sending kids on proper contracts when they have finished their education is better then what the ddsl clubs have been doing. Take off your blinkers.
Man up and admit your wrong...........never going to happen ...:)

[Ezeikial]

Wouldn't expect anything better from you. Sending kids on proper contracts when they have finished their education is better then what the ddsl clubs have been doing. Take off your blinkers.
Man up and admit your wrong...........never going to happen ...:)

Maybe I misunderstood you, when you complained about kids going to the UK for buttons - is it the size of the fee the selling club gets that makes it okay, or is it simply about making sure that the kids have finished their Leaving Cert and have a decent contract?

Are there any circumstances where you think that clubs should waive a fee or compensation to allow the kids' parents/agents negotiate better terms for themselves?

[Jack B]

5-0 win for Pats tonight but still somehow managed to be look weak in front of goal again. We're a quality striker away from being capable of a lot more (then again who isn't).

Highlight has to be us winning a penalty, Conor Clifford asking Killian Brennan's permission to take it, only to find Ian Turner stood holding the ball at the penalty spot when Brennan gave him the go ahead. They have a brief debate and Clifford backs down, only for the fourth official's board to go up for Turner to be subbed off for Conan Byrne, which prompts Clifford to run across and pick the ball up himself, only for Conan to then take it off him and stick it away. Gotta feel for Clifford the poor fella.

[oriel]

I can't recall being so pi$$ed off after a 3-0 win.

It was such a flat game, fairly boring at times too, but full credit to Cobh who kept going and good to see the stand clap them off at the end.

They were actually the better side for the first 15-20 mins, Dundalk were poor in the first half, the passing was shocking.

Got the job done in the end.

[seand]

Thought Cobh were very good tonight. Great energy and pressing, good organisation, professional attitude. Their subs went through proper drills at half time instead of just pinging long passes around like several Premier Div teams still do (and wonder why Cork and Dundalk are streets ahead). Things may just be going in the right direction

[Charlie Darwin]

Well that's annoying. Needless red from Grace, we had chances but Drogheda deserved winners in the end.

Armstrong came on as a sub in the Celtic and looked decent. 15 is very young to be playing senior football though. You'd worry he's been pushed too soon.

[pineapple stu]

Handy win for UCD in the Bowl against Pike. Only real problem is that Pike weren't really good enough to push us to any real degree, and we've never been good enough at trying to dictate the tempo of the game against teams like that, so it turned out to be a bit of a damp squib of a game

Conor Davis is one to watch though. Has taken Georgie Kelly's 19 jersey, and is off the mark already.

[Ezeikial]

Armstrong came on as a sub in the Celtic and looked decent. 15 is very young to be playing senior football though. You'd worry he's been pushed too soon.

I can't help but wonder if the project has priority over first team success

[White Horse]

Well that's annoying. Needless red from Grace, we had chances but Drogheda deserved winners in the end.

Armstrong came on as a sub in the Celtic and looked decent. 15 is very young to be playing senior football though. You'd worry he's been pushed too soon.

The real concern is why he is being pushed.

Is it to add to the first team squad or to get him publicity so that English scouts start taking notice?

What is the Rovers "project"? Is it to turn Rovers into a super schoolboy club and dominate the market of sending young kids over to English clubs?

[Dalymountrower]

The real concern is why he is being pushed.

Is it to add to the first team squad or to get him publicity so that English scouts start taking notice?

What is the Rovers "project"? Is it to turn Rovers into a super schoolboy club and dominate the market of sending young kids over to English clubs?


He is either told to play them to publicise the "project" or he is doing what a number of managers do in a crisis to deflect from their performance .."we may have lost but we had only 9 men and a 15 year old kid etc etc"

If I was a seasoned pro on the bench and am passed over for a 15 year old, I would be rightly ****ed off.

[Comic Book Guy]

Thought Cobh were very good tonight. Great energy and pressing, good organisation, professional attitude. Their subs went through proper drills at half time instead of just pinging long passes around like several Premier Div teams still do (and wonder why Cork and Dundalk are streets ahead). Things may just be going in the right direction

That's good to hear, to be fair to Hendo he tries to do things the right way, he has two strength and conditioning coaches with the club who are starting to make a difference with the fitness of the players, I also noticed that they have produced a booklet around diet for all players with the club at all age groups.
If we could have kept the players we lost over the past few seasons, Gary Comerford, Cian Coleman, Matthew Whelan and others we would be breathing down U.C.D's necks right now. The pleasing thing though is that there are players stepping up all the time, young Gordon Walker played in the EA Cup game last Monday at centre half in what must have been only his third or fourth game at senior level.
I didn't hold out much hope for last night, we were never going to catch Dundalk twice on the spin but I hope they gave a good account of themselves.
On a side note the Dundalk fans I spoke to after last Monday's game were very magnanimous in defeat.

[Ezeikial]

That's good to hear, to be fair to Hendo he tries to do things the right way, he has two strength and conditioning coaches with the club who are starting to make a difference with the fitness of the players, I also noticed that they have produced a booklet around diet for all players with the club at all age groups.
If we could have kept the players we lost over the past few seasons, Gary Comerford, Cian Coleman, Matthew Whelan and others we would be breathing down U.C.D's necks right now. The pleasing thing though is that there are players stepping up all the time, young Gordon Walker played in the EA Cup game last Monday at centre half in what must have been only his third or fourth game at senior level.
I didn't hold out much hope for last night, we were never going to catch Dundalk twice on the spin but I hope they gave a good account of themselves.
On a side note the Dundalk fans I spoke to after last Monday's game were very magnanimous in defeat.

The Cobh players were a credit to themselves, their manager and all involved with the club.

They came with a good tactical plan, closed down really well and generally worked their socks off. They may not have threatened much, but they certainly made life difficult and constantly forced errors. With the exception of Shane O'Connor, the fitness levels seem very good.

A little more finesse, cutting edge and experience will take this team a good distance

[sbgawa]

The real concern is why he is being pushed.

Is it to add to the first team squad or to get him publicity so that English scouts start taking notice?

What is the Rovers "project"? Is it to turn Rovers into a super schoolboy club and dominate the market of sending young kids over to English clubs?

Same objective as every other clubs underage teams. Get the best players in and bring them through into the first team. Some of the best will go to play at a higher level. Given the national underage leagues links with the loi clubs this should start to happen at more clubs.

[Ezeikial]

Same objective as every other clubs underage teams. Get the best players in and bring them through into the first team. Some of the best will go to play at a higher level. Given the national underage leagues links with the loi clubs this should start to happen at more clubs.

You can stick your head in the sand if you wish, but three successive posts have raised similar questions about priorities and motives - triggered by Rovers playing a 15 year old in a cup competition that is their last chance of a trophy.

Of course anyone involved in developing players wants them to reach their potential. Does this take priority and precedence over trying to achieve first team success at Shamrock Rovers ?

[micls]

I don't think 15 year olds should be allowed to play senior football. The physical risks and the mental pressure at that age, cannot be in the best interest of the kids.

In this particular case, a 15 year old was sent on when one of the biggest teams in the country was 1 down in the cup to a first division side. Off you go lad, no pressure there....